Lot 844 | Václav Radimský | Summer Shore

RADIMSKÝ, VÁCLAV
Kolin 1867 - 1946

Title: Summer Shore.
Technique: Oil on card.
Measurement: 67 x 98cm.
Notation: Signed lower right: V. Radimsky.
Frame/Pedestal: Framed.

Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany.

Václav Radimský is regarded as one of the first Eastern European artists to establish a lasting presence in France. Radimský studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and Vienna, moved to France for a study visit in the early 1890s and became acquainted with en plein air painting at the Barbizon School. In the main residence of the French Impressionists - Giverny - it joined a group of artists that included Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro. The friendship and collaboration with the leading figures had a lasting influence on the genesis of his style, which was so unique and captivating.

Like the other Impressionists, Radimský worked outdoors in nature, devoting himself entirely to the landscape and all its wonders. En plein air painting is considered the most important attribute of the artistic movement. Characteristic of his oeuvre are untouched river landscapes, wide meadows and fairytale gardens. The strong influence of Monet and Pissarro is not only evident in form and style. Similar to his friend Monet, he often devoted himself to the same motifs at different times of the day and year. He never grew tired of them - on the contrary: the different effects expressed by the chosen scenes seemed infinitely fathomable. His paintings thereby reveal one of his great fascinations: The effect of natural light in combination with water surfaces and the reflections it transmits.

The present painting is one of Radimský's characteristic river landscapes. It testifies to this special interest in the rendering of an atmospheric depiction of nature, which is captivating in its purity and unspoiltness. The airy, loose application of paint lends the painting a dazzling and breathtaking character. It reflects the boundless experimental exploration of colour, shadow and light in trialogue. As a result, it has much in common with Claude Monet's prominent depiction of the "Japanese Bridge", now in the National Gallery in London. Committed to international Impressionism, Radmiský shows what lies between the object and the artist: namely, the colourful stillness of such pristine beauty - that of the atmosphere.